Gallatin County Safe Streets for All Action Plan
Gallatin County was recently awarded federal grant funds from the US Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program to complete an Action Plan focused on reducing traffic deaths and serious injuries and improving safety for all roadway users across the county. Once complete, the Action Plan will identify the most significant safety concerns facing the region and outline specific projects and strategies to address identified issues. Completion of the Action Plan will involve a detailed analysis of past roadway crashes in Gallatin County and will require close coordination with community leaders, key stakeholders, and the public to develop a comprehensive plan that will help achieve the county’s safety goals and priorities.
The Gallatin County SS4A Action Plan will focus on rural regions of the county while also considering the urban-rural interface near the cities of Bozeman and Belgrade who are each completing their own respective SS4A planning efforts. It will also encompass the growing communities of Three Forks, Manhattan, and West Yellowstone, while also evaluating the rural areas connecting these communities. The effort will build upon the findings and recommendations of past planning endeavors, such as the Greater Triangle Area Transportation Plan (GTATP) and the Triangle Area Trails Plan, to address multimodal transportation safety concerns. Additional supplemental planning will be conducted to focus on key areas or trends identified in the Action Plan. These focus areas are anticipated to include single-vehicle run-off-the-road crashes, user behavior (impairment, speeding, distractions), and vulnerable road users, but will be defined as the plan progresses.
Interactive Commenting Map
Welcome to the Gallatin County Safe Streets for All (SS4A) Action Plan Commenting Map!
Help us identify the most pressing safety concerns in Gallatin County! Head on over to our interactive commenting map to pinpoint specific safety concerns. While you’re there, check out the comments other community members have left.
To submit a comment:
- click on the blue ‘Submit a Safety Concern’ button,
- then click the location of concern on the map,
- choose the comment type (pedestrian, bicycle, vehicle, or transit),
- tell us about your concern.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts!
If you are having trouble viewing and commenting on the map above, please try visiting our interactive map in a new window. For questions or assistance using this application, please email klynch@rpa-hln.com or call 406-404-7636.
Project Updates
Stay tuned for updates! The SS4A planning effort recently kicked off. We will post periodic updates here as the plan progresses.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) discretionary grant program was established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) in 2021. The multi-billion-dollar program was established to fund regional, local, and Tribal initiatives through grants to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries through planning and implementation efforts.
In 2023, Gallatin County was awarded funding to develop a comprehensive safety action plan (referred to as an “Action Plan”) identifying the most significant roadway safety concerns in the community as well as a set of projects and strategies to address identified safety issues. Action Plans are the foundation of the SS4A grant program. Once a community has an approved Action Plan in place, it is eligible to apply for additional funding to implement the plan’s projects and strategies. Eligible projects and strategies may be infrastructural, behavioral, and/or operational activities.
Under the SS4A program, “supplemental planning” broadly refers to any activity that informs the development of a new or existing Action Plan. Eligible supplemental planning activities include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Action plan updates
- Action plan consolidation
- Complementary safety plan development
- Road safety audits
- Equity analysis, including analysis focused on equitable enforcement
- Follow-up data collection and safety analysis
- Progress reporting
- Stakeholder engagement and collaboration
- Roadway safety planning
In the context of the Gallatin County SS4A Action Plan, the supplemental planning effort will involve in-depth analysis of up to five safety emphasis areas. Supplemental planning activities may include detailed crash analyses to understand contributing factors, review of citation data or full crash reports, inventory and review of infrastructure conditions influencing crashes, non-motorist use counts, and/or corridor- or intersection-based safety audits of high-risk areas. The findings and recommendations from the supplemental planning efforts will inform the development of a complementary safety plan, which will be produced as an amendment to the Action Plan.
Deaths and serious injuries on our roadways are not acceptable. Creating safe streets for all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, and public transportation users, is essential for fostering a healthy and thriving community. This Action Plan signifies a significant step towards identifying and rectifying the safety issues plaguing Gallatin County’s roadways. By prioritizing safety and investing in measures to prevent crashes and injuries, Gallatin County can become a more livable and vibrant place for everyone.
The Action Plan is also a required element to be eligible for future grant funding under the SS4A program. A completed Action Plan qualifies the county to apply for additional grants to fund the implementation of projects and strategies identified in the Action Plan.
The Action Plan seeks to advance equity-centered solutions to address the disproportionate impact of roadway fatalities and serious injuries on disadvantaged communities, including children, older adults, individuals with disabilities, and low-income populations. The planning team will actively collaborate with community partners to identify and implement community-supported education and enforcement strategies. Our goal is to improve roadway safety and promote social equity by ensuring that all residents have equal access to safe transportation options and are protected from harm on our roadways.
Gallatin is the contracting authority for this effort and hired Robert Peccia and Associates (RPA) to help develop the plan. A multidisciplinary group of stakeholders representing various county departments, community leaders, the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), and local safety partners have assembled to serve as the SS4A Task Force to guide the effort. To ensure that the Action Plan fully reflects the region’s needs and values, stakeholders and community members will be encouraged to participate throughout the planning process.
The public is invited to participate in the planning process through public open house events and ongoing information review and input. This website has been developed to provide updates as the plan progresses and offer an opportunity to submit comments for the planning team to consider. Community members are encouraged to submit comments at any time using the comment form on this page, or the interactive commenting map above. Event dates, times, formats, and locations of engagement opportunities will be announced through the local media, our email list, and this website.
Anyone interested in the project is encouraged to join the email list by filling out the “Stay Informed” form on this page to stay informed about plan developments. Gallatin County, RPA, and the rest of the SS4A Task Force will collect and consider all public comments received to better understand the public view of potential safety issues and concerns within the community.
Contacts
COLA ROWLEY
Deputy County Administrator
(406) 582-3047
cola.rowley@gallatin.mt.gov
SCOTT RANDALL, PE, PTOE
Consultant Project Manager
(406) 447-5005
srandall@rpa-hln.com
Schedule
August 2024
Project Kickoff
August 2024
Fall 2024
Field Investigations
Baseline Data Review & Analysis
Fall 2024
Winter 2024
Community Engagement
Winter 2024
Spring 2025
Project & Strategy Identification
Community Engagement
Spring 2025
Early Summer 2025
Action Plan Development
Public, Stakeholder, & Comission Review & Approval
Early Summer 2025
Summer/Fall 2025
Supplemental Planning
Summer/Fall 2025
Winter 2025
Complementary Safety Plan(s) Development
Public, Stakeholder, & Commission Review & Approval
Winter 2025